Meet the locals: Vyzor hirelings

A large number of semi-active adventurers have become permanent fixtures in and around Castle Vyzor.  Most of the time, these individuals are happy to sponge off the generosity of the Sorcerer of the Blue Mask.  Occasionally--often due to gambling debts or unpaid bar tabs--they get desperate enough to actually venture into the dungeons for a small fee and possibly a share of the loot.  This is where your PC comes in.  For just a few gold pieces, you can hire one of these poor fools and probably lead them to their doom.

Since these are unique (hopefully-)recurring characters, you can only recruit and control one hireling at a time.  These folks generally work on a per-session basis.  If they survive an adventure, they go back into the hiring pool.  If a single session of game play involves more than one expedition (i.e. you exit the dungeon and go back in) then you must make a morale role (modified by the DM if the previous expedition was particularly harrowing or enriching) to cajole your hireling back into the Vaults.

To recruit one of these folks, spend 10gp, 25gp, or 100gp.  Consult the Charisma chart to find out what die you may roll on the roster below.  If you don’t like the result, you can choose not to hire anyone but you’re out the gold and don’t get to try again; whoever you rolled is your best prospect given the time and money available.

			CHARISMA
	3	4-8	9-12	13-17	18
10gp	you get Willy	d4	d6	d10	d20
25gp	d6	d10	d12	d20	d30
100gp	d10	d12	d20	d30	choose

Note that one of the reasons why you want the largest die possible is because the chart is basically ordered by competence.  Hireling #10 and #18 may both be first level Fighters, but #10 will require more oversight than #18.  Not that #18 is without his own issues.  That guy thinks he’s the hero in a sword-and-sorcery novel.

Ability scores are generally irrelevant for these people.  For simplicity’s sake, they all range from 9 to 12.  You can assume fighters have a 12 Str and an 9 Int, for instance.

Hit points are rolled anew for each expedition.  Fighters and dwarves get d8.  Clerics, elves, and halflings get d6.  Everyone else gets d4.

Most characters start with no equipment save the weapon and armor listed below, with the following exceptions: Thieves generally have a crummy lockpick or two.  Clerics possess a shoddy wooden holy symbol.  And magic-users own a poorly organized spellbook incomprehensible to anyone else.  Other specialists probably have the basics to practice their profession.  Any equipment purchased for hirelings stay with them after the expedition is over, though these folks have a tendency to misplace, break, or otherwise lose equipment.

Spellcasters get random BX spells.  Reroll between expeditions.  These characters are generally too incompetent to learn or teach new spells.

Anyone with a standard class (not a zero level weenie) earns half experience and is entitled to a half a share of moneys earned.  All hirelings will automatically carouse if they can afford to do so, earning half XP.

Should something unfortunate happen to one of these poor wretches, a replacement will appear on the chart that may or may not be of the same class.  Should a hireling experience a windfall, they may retire at the DM’s discretion.

These rules generally replace normal henchmen and hireling rules, but you can bring in henchmen from other FLAILSNAILS campaigns.  Also, if there is a shortage of PCs, the DM may still fill out the party with some of boring spearmen.

ROSTER

Die Roll	Name	Class	Weapon	Armor	Miscellaneous
1	Willy Whats-his-name	0-Level (Loser)	club	rags	absolutely non-descript
2	Otto One-Eye	0-Level (Mercenary)	spear	rags	no left eye; nasty gaping hole
3	Young John	0-Level (Likely Lad)	dagger	rags	eager to please
4	Little Liam Linkboy	0-Level (Misc)	none	rags	torchbearer, won't fight
5	Jonesy	0-Level (Mercenary)	shortbow, empty quiver	rags	shifty little mofo
6	John Lackwit	0-Level (Loser)	had a club, but lost it	rags	needs constant supervision
7	Richard Half-beard	Thief	dagger	rags	bad burn on side of face
8	Wicked Juliana	Fighter	battle axe	leather	merciless
9	Sly Henry	Thief	dagger	rags	calls himself Sly, actually a fool
10	Adam o' the Dung Heap	Fighter	mace	shield	oh God, the stench
11	Poor Brother Rupert	Cleric	staff	raggedy robe	sold his holy symbol to feed the poorer
12	Baguette	Halfling	dagger	leather	kid sister of Fromage and Escargot
13	Balphazad the Befuddled	Magic-User	staff	tattered robe	would forget his beard if it wasn't glued on
14	Kernick	0-Level (Mercenary)	rusty polearm	chain	not from around here, speaks very little Common
15	Emma Bright-Eyes	0-Level (Likely Lass)	sling, 2d6 stones	patchwork dress	an innocent; if she gets killed you might actually cry
16	Walter the Physick	0-Level (Misc)	dagger	threadbare robe	physician (quack?), non-combatant
17	Slightly Creepy Kerra	Thief	dagger	leather	the way she smiles when she draws her dagger...
18	Hugo the Slayer	Fighter	sword & dagger	leather	can't actually dual wield, alternates attacks
19	Fromage	Halfling	shortbow, d8 arrows	leather	middle brother of Baguette and Escargot
20	Gwalin Rustbritches	Dwarf	warhammer	leather & shield	hated by other dwarves, no one knows why
21	Runaway Tom	0-Level (Likely Lad)	staff	rags	something about that boy ain't quite right
22	Sister Hilda	Cleric	mace	shield	smites evil with joy
23	Alice Talks to Crows	Magic-User	staff	robe	certain all animals speak Common but choose not to
24	Ralf the Pathetic	Fighter	sword	shield, helmet	woe-is-me disgraced knight
25	Fat Roger	Thief	shortsword	rags	armor costs 150% for size adjustments
26	Gilbert the Heretic	Cleric	club	shield	won't shut up about angels
27	Morwena the Hedgewitch	Magic-User	dagger	robe	you can't stop staring at the wart on her nose
28	Escargot	Halfling	shortsword	leather&shield	eldest brother of Baguette and Fromage
29	Oombur Axebutt	Dwarf	handaxe	chain&shield	composes songs, not bad at it but his singing is terrible
30	Mellifor of the Brazen Hand	Elf	longsword	chainmail	right hand made of brass (semi-functional)

Mercenaries are capable of holding their own with human-like foes such as orcs and goblins.  They are less stalwart against weird monsters and undead.

Losers are generally incompetent.  They are nonetheless useful because once per expedition they can be used as cannon fodder to absorb some doom that would otherwise befall their employer.  E.g. that orc axe that would have split you in twain actually kills Willy instead.

Likely Lads and Lasses are the most competent and daring of zero-level characters.  At the end of each expedition, there is a 1 in 6 chance they ‘graduate’ to an actual adventuring class.  Their new class will be identical to that of their recent employer, if possible.  (E.g. a Likely Lass who worked for a Dwarf will probably become a Fighter.)